At least we know that some here don't listen to 'The Now Show'...
Posts by m0rt
988 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Jul 2015
William Hague: Brussels attacks mean we must destroy crypto ASAP
Oculus Rift review-gasm round-up: The QT on VR
ExoMars probe narrowly avoids death, still in peril after rocket snafu
Researchers find hole in SIP, Apple’s newest protection feature
Apple mulled gobbling its Brit GPU designers – but didn't like the taste
Wednesday 23rd March 2016 14:42 GMT
Re: Shame
I said take up, not use. As for citation - look at the data. It is now 20 odd years since it first came out and look were it currently is at.
As for DAB + take up in Netherlands and Italy, how much of this is down to Car radio fitment?
I repeat. Pure is, for Apple, a relatively small market and isn't such a worldwide phenomena. In the US, or other larger land masses, the amount of masts that would be needed would be far too high for a reasonable penetration where traditionally lower power AM allows for larger penetration areas for a much reduced cost. In fact, in those areas, internet access is far more convenient, and so streaming is more applicable.
It's nuts but 'shared' is still shorthand for 'worthless'
Wednesday 23rd March 2016 11:27 GMT
"But you've managed to see what social mobility means, but missed it's point."
I don't think I did. I understand that it is touted as a way to better onesself, but the fact it is touted as a 'way out' misses the fundamentals; that in any 'enlightened' society these opportunities should be a given, but at the same time not then shutter the gates on everyone else who can't take advantage of those opportunities.
"As for respecting people in their professions, chosen or not, I thought that was a normal human thing to do."
It should be. However, policies that seem to be pushed on the populace don't seem to bear this as being a fundamental belief in UK government. Legal aid is just one example of this. Does it not seem perverse to you that given a circumstance in which you find you need a lawyer, that if you can afford a more expensive lawyer then you have a better chance of being found not guilty?
I think that what I am trying to say is this:
People deserve the respect of who they are. Not what they do. But it seems that as a nation, anecdotally (Daily Maily if you prefer), we are demonising large sections of society by putting up this wonderful gate above which the sign "Social Mobilty" exists.
I hate this term. The same way I utterly detest the use of 'Human Resources'.
Wednesday 23rd March 2016 08:09 GMT
"Individualism is BS that divides society, and leaves individuals exposed to corporate exploitation.
Social mobility is BS, and education as a means to it, doubly so."
Individualism is about being human. You are an individual, whether you choose to act individually or not. It isn't bullshit. Accepting this actually brings society together, assuming mutual respect. The opposite results in, well, wars usually.
Corporations exist to make money. Therefore they will use any means necessary, hopefuly within the framework of the laws in their sphere of operations, to achieve this. If this means an advertising campaign that tells the masses that they will be an 'individual' if they buy into their special product, then they will. It is up to the individual to decide if they will buy into this, or not.
Fashion anyone?
'Social Mobility' - I am assuming you are in the UK. This is a phrase that I, too, hate with a passion. It is bandied about by politicians to indicate that we all have the ability to get out of the shit we, or at least, our parents are in.
What this does is subtly indicate that if you are in the poorer earning classes, that it is somehow your fault. Which it may or may not be. And effectively stigmatises it. As opposed to the opposite which is:
We are all equal. We deserve the same treatment whether we are a street sweeper, an MP, a Policeman, a lawyer, catering staff, shop assistant or developer or happen to be in a 'reality' tv show. We should be able to live on the wages we earn in that job. We should have the right to equal representation under the law. We should have the right to decent education. We should have the right to expect fair taxes. We should have the right to be treated as human beings.
So social mobility? Screw that. If I am a street sweeper than I *deserve* the same respect for that position as if I was a lawyer.
Not that it will make a blind bit of difference. So, @AC, you had one good point, there.
Wednesday 23rd March 2016 07:06 GMT
"Where we could be teaching kids how to thrive in a connected world of shared knowledge, it seems we’re actually preparing them for a post-apocalyptic landscape of extreme individualism, a world that actively denies them any support. As a proud Australian I have a natural affinity for this Thunderdome scenario - but it’s fantasy, not the basis of an educational philosophy."
Yeah. But you see, giving kids the tools to think for themselves, to actually rely on their own skillsets is vertainly more valid than what you are writing above.
You seem to imply that knowledge easily found on the net is a reason for not teaching core, reasoning foundations that this very technology is founded on. There is a lot of information on the internet. As a percentage, how much of it is 'useful'?
You made some valid points, but your views on education is just hyperbole that is usually the basis for a VC pitch.
So where has the legal 'right' to 10Mbps broadband gone?
NASA celebrates 50-year anniversary of first spaceship docking in orbit
Brits seek rousing name for polar research vessel
Reformed LulzSec hacktivist joins payments firm
Wednesday 16th March 2016 11:59 GMT
Re: There are plenty of kids with talent out there
Whereas you may have a point:
"Lulzsec were just a bunch of mindless script kiddies...not security experts"
If so, then the I would actually be more angry toward the companies who they compromised for not employing bonafide security experts and practises.
Cops hacked the Police National Computer to unlawfully retain suspects' biometric data
Microsoft: Ditch your phone biz and do crazy hardware experiments
Monday 7th March 2016 14:22 GMT
Cortana. Cortana is the key, here.
Out of all the 'AI' cortana comes across as the most easy to interact with. I used it on a Windows Phone^W Mobile^W Device that happens to also be a phone, and it was the first time that I enjoyed the interaction.
Yeah, I am not a fan of the security implications, but I am a fan of my childhood wishing for my own AI Robot/Chatty computer.
Spanish cops discover illegally parked flying car
Great news! Only 707,509,815 records breached in 2015
Tuesday 1st March 2016 07:43 GMT
Did we ever really have security and privacy online? As far back as I can remember (I remember reading an interview with Stallman in a Computer Weekly printed paper whilst sat at work) there has always been reports of breaches and they are not getting smaller.
Suffice to say, if you don't want it leaked, don't put it online. Though to be fair, even if *you* don't, an agency that requests your details inevitably will.
Loss of data/theft of data should be considered a criminal offence if stated precautions are not met. If you own a shotgun in the UK, you must have certain criteria met. If you don't you will have your shotguna nd license revoked pretty quickly. There should be a licensing system for keeping *any* personal data which can be revoked - meaning loss of income for a large list of companies. As well as potential criminal negligence charges.
Yet here we are, talking about a bill that strives to undermine that in the UK.
Death by a 1000 cuts.
Privacy is dead. Long live security.
Science contest to get girls interested in STEM awards first prize to ... a boy
Samsung off the hook as $120m Apple patent verdict tossed
Saturday 27th February 2016 15:08 GMT
Re: What are the patents ?
?
You new here or what?
Just be thankful there was actually a new story over the weekend. They have clamped down on the weekend edition over some sort of drivel about having days off or some such lunacy.
I think it was a passive agressive stance because the kind of people who read this site are the kind of people who use ad blockers.
Gov must put superfast broadband along HS2 rail line, says Parliament
Tuesday 23rd February 2016 16:59 GMT
Bah.
HS2 is the biggest load of codswallop this side of mid 20th century smoking advertising.
Great - just further drain the rest of the UK to London. It sure needs it. I can get to Euston from Stafford in 1:20 on a train. Quicker than I can get to anywhere else in a 50 mile radius of here.
Fookin idiots. The lot of 'em. Even if they say 'Oh but we can carry freight'....well whoop di do. Thing is, what you going to do to allievate the traffic at the other end to pick said freight up?
By the time they finish the fooker, self driving cars will be more plentiful (and don't get me started there either!) and the traffic management systems will handle these better and hs2 will be converted into a giant cycleway where we will find nomadic hipsters wandering freely looking for Northern chamberpots to sell back 'ome.
London is just one big feedback loop.
Intel shows budget Android phone powering big-screen Linux
Tuesday 23rd February 2016 10:54 GMT
Re: "Low-end == 2 Gb"
The belief that because of moores law, no care is taken regarding well optimised code as machines will just get quicker.
Horrible cycle that, and I say this as a linux user, Linux distros are starting to follow.
At least in the older days of more fixed hardware, Amigas and ealier, the machines where not as flexible, so things were done to make them as efficient as possible. Even now some of the Demos being produced are astounding.
I could be wrong, but I don't think I am. Make em rather flimsy with a life cycle that is laughable at 2-3 years so they can continue to feed the beast. Phones are no different. FPS rates on a phone that would shame a gaming PC from a few years ago? WHAT IS THE FREAKING POINT!?
*sobs over psion 5 carcass*
Are Indians too stupid to be trusted with free Internet?
Monday 8th February 2016 23:10 GMT
AO has a good point.
Why was it outlawed? it was free* even if it was a walled garden.
Arguably what Google serves up in its search engine is a walled garden.
Personally, if there was no agenda, it could have co-existed easily. I am no fan of Farcebook by any stretch of the imagination. But imagine banning free libraries because they had a limited selection of books that were chosen by, oh I dunno, Amazon, in favour of bookstores only. (Actually, thinking about that, I can see that being the case). Extend it. Imagine banning OLPC because of home grown computer companies. Or am I missing the point?
Meh. Miserable barstewards, the lot of you. And coming from me, that is saying something.
Lights out for Space Vehicle Number 23: UK smacked when US sat threw GPS out of whack
Wednesday 3rd February 2016 16:35 GMT
Re: 'precision docking of oil tankers, as well as navigation'
Tankers are pretty big. That is a lot of mass therefore when docking, the amount of thrust in one direction is critical that even a tiny amount of apparent movement can be too much. So yep, 13 ms when you are using that to determine position (radio travels a long way in 13 ms) means that you can't accurately determine the amount of thrust to bring the behemoth to a halt at the right point.
This is all supposition, btw. http://sploid.gizmodo.com/incredible-overhead-view-of-an-oil-tanker-perfectly-doc-1725572780
So yeah. Backup systems are key. I have no idea how accurate the other systems are compared to GPS. I am surprised, though, that some kind of, oh I dunno, laser ranging isn't employed against specified dedicated targets on a dock.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
